Wings send Green to Oilers for Brodziak, conditional draft pick

DETROIT -- Veteran defenseman Mike Green was just minutes away from taking the ice with his Red Wings teammates for warmups when he found out that he would not be playing.
The Wings held Green and forward Andreas Athanasiou out of the lineup for Sunday night's game against the Calgary Flames for "asset management" reasons.

Shortly after midnight, the Red Wings announced that they had traded Green to the Edmonton Oilers for center Kyle Brodziak and a conditional draft pick.

Brodziak, 35, has not played this season and is on long-term injured reserve because of a back injury. He is in the final season of a two-year, $2.3 million contract, with an annual cap hit of $1.15 million.
The draft pick will either be a fourth-round selection in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft or a third-round selection in the 2021 draft if the Oilers reach the final four and Green plays in 50 percent of the games.
According to TSN and The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, the Wings will also retain 50 percent of Green's salary and cap hit.
LeBrun also said that Green agreed to waive his modified no-trade clause.
After this past Saturday's practice at the BELFOR Training Center, Green said he had gotten accustomed to hearing his name in trade rumors and tried to focus on things he could control.
But Green admitted there would be mixed emotions if a contending team wanted to trade for him.
"Until it happens, you don't feel the emotions," Green said Saturday. "Obviously when you bring it up, inside of you, you have a tie. There's a lot of memories. But nothing's happened, so I'm not overthinking things. I'm just making sure I do my job day to day, like I said. Anytime you leave a job, any sort of team, it doesn't matter what it is. There's emotions involved."
Monday afternoon, Green thanked Detroit fans on social media.

Alternate captain Dylan Larkin said he and his teammates tried to focus on playing the Flames despite the jarring news that Green and Athanasiou would not be playing.
"It's hard. Probably the hardest thing I've gone through right before a game," Larkin said. "News like that, it's two guys that are a huge part of this team. Huge players for us, great guys in this room that are beloved.
"You gotta go out and play. I think right before the game like that, the guys that stepped in did a great job. They were ready. That's gotta be tough for them to think all day you're not playing and then right before the game you're going in. I thought the two guys did a great job of that. It's part of the game, it's part of our league. Unfortunately, it's a tough time. You don't know what's gonna happen next. It could just be precautionary. That's what we were told. You never know."

Luke Glendening said after the game that the unfortunate thing was the Wings had put themselves in the position of being sellers at the deadline once again.
"I guess we all knew it was coming, so it's nothing unexpected," Glendening said. "It's always hard to see your friends and teammates go."
In five seasons with the Wings, Green had 37 goals and 104 assists in 303 games.
It was just last Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens that Green scored his 150th career goal, which was also his 500th career point.

After that game, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke of his great admiration for Green.
"I just really have enjoyed coaching Mike," Blashill said. "He's a great person, comes to the rink every day, he's got 500 points in the league, has done some great, great things and he comes and works like he's a rookie. That's what he does every day, he works that hard. I just have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a person, him as a player, him as a competitor. He wants to get better, he wants to learn, very coachable. I've really enjoyed coaching Mike. That many points and goals, that's awesome as a D-man."

Green will see a familiar face in Edmonton as the Oilers general manager is Ken Holland, the former Wings general manager who originally brought Green to Detroit.
After their 4-2 victory over the Kings in Los Angeles, Oilers coach Dave Tippett spoke to reporters there about acquiring Green.

"Good veteran puck-moving D who gives us some depth on the back end now, one of the areas we were looking at and Kenny was able to get something done so we're very happy about adding him to our group," Tippett said.
Oilers forward Riley Sheahan, the former Wings forward who played with Green in Detroit, also talked to reporters in Los Angeles about adding Green.
"It's huge for us," Sheahan said. "He's a great player and obviously he's fun to watch, he's a smooth skater and makes some great plays. Then in the locker room he's just a great guy so to add a guy like that who can help some of our young talent and I think just be a veteran presence in the locker room is huge for us. Definitely happy to have him."

The Wings now possess 17 picks in the next two drafts, including the conditional one from this trade which will either be a fourth-round pick in 2020 or a third-rounder in 2021.
The trade deadline is 3 p.m. Monday.